Militants detonated two parked cars filled with explosives about two miles (three kilometers) apart as crowds of pilgrims passed by. Police and medical officials in Karbala, 80km south of Baghdad, said 68 people were injured in the attacks.

The pilgrims were on their way to Karbala to take part in an important religious holiday, known as Shabaniyah, that attracts devout Shiites from around the country.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombings, but the method is the hallmark of Sunni extremists.

While violence has dropped dramatically in the past years in Iraq, suspected Sunni insurgents regularly target Shiite religious ceremonies and holy places in an attempt to re-ignite sectarian tensions that brought Iraq to the brink of civil war in 2005 and 2007.

AP